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A plate lunch is a must try in Hawaii as I was told by Lobster Dynamite. It is considered as ‘local food’ in the sense that it reflects the fusion of the local cultures and ethnicity. Lobster Dynamite suggested that we go to the Rainbow Drive-in, this place has been around for over 45 years and boasts to serve some of the ‘cheapest and best plate lunches to Hawaii and the world’.

A ‘plate lunch’ consists of entrée, 2 scoops of rice, 1 scoop macaroni salad or slaw. There were many choices ranging from fried chicken, ham steak, bbq steak, cutlets, corned beef and many more. Alternatively, there are also burgers, sandwiches and other miscellaneous items. The description of each food can be found below.

I couldn’t go past the pork cutlet with gravy ($7.25) – and what a generous serving it was! The pork were on the thin side but tender, and the gravy although thick was a wonderful complement. I really enjoyed the macaroni salad.

‘The Mother’ wanted something different; he got the mahi sandwich with lettuce ($4.50) and a side of fries. The mahi sandwich was very simple – mahi, lettuce and that was pretty much it. It was pretty tasty though, very simple and very good.

He also ordered a medium float ($3.00) which he absolutely loved! He glared at me every time I asked for a sip.

Lobster Dynamite ordered the beef with gravy, very similar to mine.

He also ordered a cheese burger which was $2.50! How can he resist a burger for $2.50 he claimed! Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of this as he pretty much scoffed it down before I could even press ‘click’.

Service nill, you order your food at the counter and wait for you food. Seating is very minimal, especially during peak hour – so come early or come a little after peak hour. Reasonably priced and generous serving. It is quite close to the beach so if there are no seating; you can always stroll down the beach and have it there. Unfortunately for us, it wasn’t beach weather, so we ate there, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

On our first day in Honlulu, we went for a drive with Lobster Dynamite and The Professor. We drove to Oahu’s North Shore, walked around and stopped at possibly the most famous Shaved Ice place in Honolulu – Matsumoto. Matsumoto has been around since 1951 – opened by both Mamoru and Helen Momoy Matsumoto.

It is located about 10 minutes drive from the Dole Plantation site on the Northern side of the island, a scenic drive into North Point. We drove past looking for parking and the line was incredibly long! So many tourists, wanting to try this shaved ice, including ‘The Mother’.

It’s a tiny store, I didn’t go in as there were just way too many people. They have a multitude of syrup flavours – anything you can think off they had – strawberry, pineapple, lemon, coconut, banana, coconut cream, pinacolada – you name it! The list just went on and on. You can have the simple snow cone or be super indulgent and add on a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the bottom of the paper cone, or even add a generous scoop of azuki beans. Both ‘The Mother’ and Lobster Dynamite had neither; they just wanted a simple cone.

The shaved ice was HUMUNGOUS! I don’t think the photo really justified it! Huge shaved ice drizzled with syrup – from memory, ‘The Mother’ had melon, lychee and coconut – weird combination I thought but it seemed to work. It was just one sugary / syrupy drink! It was good for a warm day but talk about sugar over doze. I don’t know if I would have lined up for more than ten minutes though, it was good and I understand the fascination but I probably wouldn’t have gotten one on my own. ‘The Mother’ seemed to have enjoyed it but I could tell towards the end he was pretty much over it! lol

I can’t remember what Lobster Dynamite had, but I did prefer the colours on his ice than ‘The Mother’s’!

We drove around the island, stopping at Laniakea to look at the turtles. I think the boys really wanted to go snorkeling, however, weather was just too horrid and I don’t think they had their snorkels with them. Definitely next time… there will be a next time!

Next stop was definitely lunch – Ola at Turtle Bay Resort. The resort looked amazing, we didn’t really get a chance to walk around as our main focus was food! It was past 3pm when we got there, so the restaurant was closed, but they were still serving bar food which suited us fine.

The Kalua pork slider was absolutely amazing; the pork was incredibly tender and the spices – fantastic!

Thankfully I ordered the kalua pork nachos – not what I expected what nachos would be. Five large thin and crispy corn chips all topped with generous amount of kalau pork and cheese with guacamole and tomato salsa on the side.

These babies were fantastic! The pork, the guacamole, the crispy corn chips – DELICIOUS!

The Professor wasn’t overly hungry, so opted for the cheese and fruit platter which looked very healthy and very tasty!

Overall it was a lovely meal – I really enjoyed the nachos and the pork sliders were fantastic.

Deliciously full, Lobster Dynamite drove us back to Waikiki, whilst I had a quick snooze in the car.